Washington Native Discovers More Than Potatoes in Idaho

Lilia Navarette worked hard and learned a lot when she was dispatched from her Job Corps center in Nampa, Idaho, earlier this year to help support efforts to fight back the Pioneer Fire northeast of Boise. From 5 every morning until 11 at night, she helped clothe and feed the firefighters who were out on the front lines.

The Washington native had never spent much time in the woods. She marveled at the diversity of the firefighters flown in from around the country and was impressed by the teamwork that had to take place to combat such a massive blaze.

Whether she was working to help feed the firefighters or supplying them with the clothing, chainsaws and other gear needed for the job, Lilia put everything she had into the efforts and said she came away professionally and spiritually fulfilled.

In fact, she’s planning a career shift from her current nursing program after her graduation from the Centennial Job Corps Center scheduled for early next year. She now wants to be a firefighter.

This in spite of the fact that firefighters – and those who support them – work long hours, get little pay and work in extremely dangerous and trying conditions. One way to measure how difficult the work is involves the daily required calorie intake for these men and women: The U.S. Forest Service recommends that kitchen workers in fire camps feed wildland firefighters up to 6,000 calories per day.

In addition to helping support the 3,000-plus firefighters rotating in an out of the base camp for the Pioneer Fire, she also spent five days at a “spike camp” much closer to the fire line, where conditions were decidedly more primitive. Everyone slept in tents and there were no showers or even bathrooms. It was there that she learned that “baby wipes are a miracle.”

Her experience supporting the Pioneer Fire only added to the benefits she had already reaped from her “regular job” at the Centennial Job Corps Center in Nampa.

Though Lilia always stayed out of trouble growing up and got good grades, she joined fellow students at the Job Corps Center who “all came from different situations, looking for a fresh start, trying to better themselves.”

Growing up in Walla Walla, Washington, Lilia could only conjure up images of “potatoes and deserts” when she used to think of what Idaho must be like. Thanks to her time at the Centennial Job Corps Center and at fire camp, she now knows much more about the state, what she wants in the future and herself as a person.

Editor’s note: Job Corps trains more than 60,000 students at 126 centers in all 50 states. Interested in more information? Visit jobcorps.gov or call 800-733-5627.

The “DOL Working for You” series highlights the Labor Department’s programs in action. View other blog posts in the series here.

Leo Kay is the regional director of public affairs for the department in San Francisco.